Review: The Workbench London Ring Box

Established in 2014 by best friends and jewellers Kirstie McLaren  and Katie Woodward  The Workbench London is the original (and in my opinion the best) ring carving workshop. The Workbench Boxes came later and make a great substitute if you want to make your own ring but cannot make it to a workshop.

Katie and Kirstie run ring carving workshops around the UK where you can create your own masterpiece of a ring be it a wedding ring, signet ring etc.  Recent workshops include the Barbican, London, where you can also purchase their boxes, Edinburgh and London. The workshops cost from £75 plus extra if you want to make a second sterling silver ring (£45), a rose gold finish (£35) etc and take around 2 and 1/2 hours. The ring is made from the lost wax method so you carve your ring and then it is taken away to be cast and cleaned up. The final ring is then sent back to you around 3 weeks later. From the IG pictures I have looked at the workshops look like fun. Photos of ring casts, finished rings and details of their workshops can be found on their insta account, @theworkbenchldn.

I purchased the Workbench Box (a signet ring box and wedding ring box are also available). I upgraded to a wider 8mm width band and rose gold vermeil finish.  I also made a second sterling silver ring. The box contained a code so I could watch the tutorials via their website.  These showed me how to carve my ring and provided an introduction into what lost cast waxing is. The box also included a ring sizer,  2 wax ring casts (more can be purchased via the website), paper and pencil to sketch out ideas, 2 rounds of sand paper, one soft for polishing, the other abrasive for taking the wax down, thumb protector (very important), a box, form where you stipulate ring size etc and prepaid envelope to return the rings to be cast. The rings must be sent back within 6 months due to the fluctuating costs of silver.

I recieved my box within 3 days from my order. The videos were easy to access with my code and I enjoyed watching them. They were very clear about the need to always wear your thumb protector and the videos were very concise. When I emailed queries Katie or Kirstie always replied promptly even at weekends. I took the whole 6 months to carve my rings as I realised that although I had been taught how to walk and talk etc my physios had never shown me how to carve or hold a wax ring so there were a few disasters along the way.

I made my rings by carving the rings to the width I felt comfortable wearing. I downloaded some pictures of squirrels, a bee, rabbit, fox, a dove and using them as a template carved around them. The silver ring has a squirrel in the centre, the rose gold has animals all the way around it.

                  

The Workbench Box is, for me, the ideal purchase. I probably wouldn't be able to go to a workshop. I couldn't commit to a date as I might be feeling iller than usual and I am probably, due to hand/grip issues plus not being able to look down, not to be trusted to wield a knife, even a safety one, unsupervised! The at home box means I can do it a little bit at a time when I feel well enough and I can get someone else to do any carving or fiddly bits so I do not risk stabbing myself. The Workbench have just started selling refill boxes from £75 so I know what I will be saving up for! I hope they start making bangle or pendant boxes very soon!

I purchased the box myself and all views expressed in this blog are my own.
Information about boxes and nights can be found here:  Workbench London